


'Tis But a Scratch

by rebelmeg



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers Family, Avengers Movie Night, Avengers Tower, Bucky's laugh is contagious, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Making Bucky Laugh, Natasha can't take much more of this, Not Canon Compliant, References to Monty Python
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-14
Updated: 2018-03-14
Packaged: 2019-03-31 08:57:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13971663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rebelmeg/pseuds/rebelmeg
Summary: It's movie night at the Avengers Tower, and everyone is enjoying Monty Python and the Holy Grail.  However, they kind of forgot about that part where the guy gets his arm cut off... luckily, Bucky doesn't react how anyone would have expected.





	'Tis But a Scratch

**Author's Note:**

> Not canon-compliant so far as everyone is happy and together in the Tower because I like it that way. I was chatting with some delightful people about this idea like a month ago, and ran with it. Sorta forgot about it until today, but here it is!

No one thought about it, even realized it, until it was too late. They had all been so distracted, entirely caught off guard clear from the beginning of the movie, when Bucky had shocked them all by laughing. 

It had been a rusty sound, a little bit hoarse like he hadn’t done it in a long time, but it was definitely a laugh when he realized the bit with the coconuts, and a minute later during the confrontation at the castle wall he laughed again.

That time the laugh wasn’t quite so rusty, and they heard Bucky say to himself as he chuckled, “Elderberries? Really?”

And it kept happening. It was actually really distracting, and there was far less banter and quoting than there usually was during a movie night, as all of the rest of the Avengers had their ears pricked for Bucky’s reactions. All of them had seen the movie except for Steve and Thor when they’d first started doing movie night together, and Steve hadn’t been all that keen at first. It had taken Clint and Tony reenacting a scene before the supersoldier had managed to re-calibrate his sense of humor in order to appreciate the movie, and Thor had been deeply amused, if pretty confused, from the start.

Watching Bucky take to it like a duck to water was actually quite delightful, underneath the shared surprise. Normally, it was a rare occasion to see Bucky smile at all. Now he was grinning, wide and happy, the little curved lines by his eyes crinkling up further every time he laughed.

So it wasn’t really that hard to forget that perhaps there might be something that he might not enjoy in the movie until it was too late.

The scene with the Black Knight had already started, and before Steve remembered what was coming up, and could fumble in the couch cushions for the remote to pause it, it was already happening. He started to panic.

“Bucky, Buck, this part, you should know that—”

But he was too late, and the Black Knight’s arm had already been lopped off.

Everyone in the room cringed, except for Bucky, who instead went very still for a moment, then exclaimed, “Did he just say, _' ‘tis but a scratch’_ ?!”

Steve was gaping like a fish, trying to think of something to say, when Bucky burst out laughing. And not a little laugh either, a big, loud laugh that made several of the others jump.

That was… not expected.

He did not stop laughing for the entire rest of the scene. In fact, he only laughed harder, practically hysterical at the mention of the lack of arms being a “flesh wound”, and there were actual tears forming in his eyes at “I’ll bite your legs off!”.

He was laughing so hard that they had to pause the movie, all of them looking at Bucky as he slowly started to slide off the couch, eyes squinted closed as he struggled to breathe.

“Okay, I’ll be the first to admit it, I couldn’t have called that.” Clint said, watching the ex-assassin thump to the floor, holding his middle with his one arm as he kept laughing.

“You’re not alone there,” Natasha murmured, flicking through the bowl of popcorn in her lap until she found the perfect piece to eat. “I would have predicted stony silence at best, to be honest.”

Steve was clearly caught between his best friend's contagious laughter, and some kind of freak-out that he’d not been more on his guard about potentially triggering situations.

A weird shaking sensation had him turning around, to see Tony looking down at Bucky (sprawled on the floor, still laughing, tears leaking down into his hair as he kept quoting _‘tis but a scratch_ ) and trying to stifle his own laughter. It wasn’t very effective, because he was shaking from the effort.

Tony saw Steve looking at him, absolutely incredulous, and just shrugged helplessly. “At least he’s not having a panic attack?”

 

They had to watch that scene three more times (mostly because Bucky kept laughing and missed half the dialogue), and everyone was settled back into relaxed movie night mode by the time they continued.

By the end of the night, it was clear they had created a monster.

Bucky had pulled out his phone immediately after the end credits finished rolling, and ordered a set of coconut shells (how he was gonna put those to use with only one arm, no one asked). He was quoting lines to himself, practically giggling, and when Clint squeezed an unpopped popcorn kernel at him, nailing Bucky right in the forehead, he just sassed, “I fart in your general direction!” without looking up from his phone.

 

A week later, none of them were particularly willing to address the problem. And it was a problem.

By holding one coconut shell between his knees, Bucky could clack the shells together to his heart’s content, suggesting that coconuts migrate, and challenging anyone that entered the room to a duel. He watched the movie at least once _every single day_ , practically living on the communal couch, quoting the lines and clacking the coconut shells and steadily memorizing the entire film.

Natasha snapped first, so annoyed at the constant noise of horse hooves when she was on the communal floor that she brandished one of the knives hidden on her person and fixed Bucky with a fearsome glare.

“Barnes, if you clack that damned coconut at me one more time, I will embed it in your skull like Mickey Mouse ears.”

Normal people would have at least shit themselves a little bit, and the people living in the Tower would have at least had the decency to look a little scared.

But Bucky? He just wiggled his armless shoulder at her, and taunted, “I can take you, it’s just a flesh wound.”

Natasha had to leave the room before she went through with her threat or burst out laughing. Tony, who had been sitting at the kitchen table munching on grapes and drinking coffee, snorted coffee out his nose, choked on a grape, and ended up laughing so hard he had to put his head down on his arms and just sit there until it passed.

It didn’t help that every time he nearly got himself under control, Bucky would clack the coconut shells together again or shout "Ni!".

 

Next movie night was Tony’s turn to pick, and as he got settled on the couch and had Jarvis queue up the movie, he offhandedly remarked, “I may live to regret this. But based on what happened last time he liked a movie, it’s a risk I’m willing to take.”

A few curious glances were shot his way, but then the movie started.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Clint tossed a Milk Dud up in the air and caught it neatly in his mouth as he glanced over at Bucky. “I swear to Thor’s dad, if you start walking around wearing a corset and fishnets, I’m moving.” Then he addressed the room in general, “Also, I have dibs on Robin Hood: Men in Tights. That’s my pick for my next turn, no one steal it.”

“Just because you are an archer, does not mean we have to watch an archery movie every single time it’s your turn to pick.” Natasha said in a flat voice, stealing a Milk Dud out of Clint’s box without making a sound.

“You keep that up and I’ll make you watch Princess of Thieves again because Keira Knightley is a goddess and you are a heathen.”

 

Bucky did not wear fishnets and corsets around the Tower (at least, not that they knew of, thank Odin). He did, however, memorize the entire soundtrack of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and tended to randomly burst into song while he toted his coconut around like a comfort object. He didn’t clack it as much anymore (Steve had been forced to sit him down and have a “talk” with him before a murder was committed), but he did quote the lines as often as he breathed. Tony and Clint had been dragged into it as well, shouting insults across the room at each other on a frequent basis (it was becoming a term of endearment to tell someone their mother was a hamster and their father smelt of elderberries).

They were four movies into a Mel Brooks marathon thanks to Clint’s pick of Men in Tights, and Bucky had laughed himself absolutely stupid during Spaceballs (he had really enjoyed Star Wars). Natasha was up next with History of the World: Part One, and Bruce had the next one with Young Frankenstein. There were plans to watch Mr. Bean and some Carol Burnett sketches after the Mel-athon was done, because making Bucky laugh was something that every single one of them enjoyed (and laughter was something they all desperately needed for themselves as well).

Now if someone could just coax the dang coconut away from him…


End file.
